http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/filibuster/ en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:00:07 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416183/posts This helps explain the increasing use of the filibuster. As the parties drift apart ideologically, the majority party will more likely introduce legislation that the minority party can't accept, giving the latter a stronger incentive to block it via the filibuster. Using the filibuster is thus a rational response when one finds oneself in the smaller half of a polarized chamber, which is more likely to be the case today than 45 years ago. Real Clear Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416183/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:00:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414010/posts At the end of a decade marked by a general failure of U.S. leadership, 2009 saw the collapse of the Senate. Confronted with an array of difficult problems, a reactionary Senatorial minority put their personal political interests above those of the nation and blocked action by the progressive majority. While polls don’t differentiate between levels of support for the House of Representatives and the Senate, the long-term trend is down. At the beginning of the decade, 50 percent of Americans approved of the way Congress was handling its job; today the approval level is in the twenties. There’s a widespread... Berkeley Daily Planet http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414010/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:59:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412584/posts Yeah, plenty of righties are on the flip side of the coin, but that’s all the more reason to post this. Their logic’s been blessed by a bona fide Nobel prize winner. Any economics Ph.Ds want to try identifying the crucial variable that’s changed in Krugman’s calculus between then and now? 2005: Yesterday The Washington Post reported on the growing number of pharmacists who, on religious grounds, refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control or morning-after pills. These pharmacists talk of personal belief; but the effect is to undermine laws that make these drugs available. And let me make a... Hotair http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412584/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:46:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412320/posts President Barack Obama Hails US Senate Heathcare Vote Healthcare reform is President Obama's main domestic priority US President Barack Obama has hailed the Senate's healthcare vote as a "big victory for the American people". Senators voted in the early hours of Monday to end debate on a compromise bill, putting the legislation on course to face a final vote on Christmas Eve. President Obama has set health reform as a key plank of his first term. The legislation, which aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans, could lead to the biggest change in US healthcare in decades, if approved. "The... BBCNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412320/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:30:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412285/posts Senate Ends Filibuster on Manager's Amendment to Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate has ended the filibuster against the manager's amendment, the changes Senate Leader Harry Reid is sponsoring to the pro-abortion Senate health care bill to get it to 60 votes. The vote came after Sen. Ben Nelson upset pro-life groups by ending his objection to the bill over its abortion funding. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5800.html LifeNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412285/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:29:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411848/posts Per the link, buried on page 328 and entitled, "SEC. 10502. INFRASTRUCTURE TO EXPAND ACCESS TO..", there is an appropriation for an undisclosed state to receive from the Federal Treasury $100,000,000, to build or expand a state university medical school. The language reads... "(a) APPROPRIATION.—There are authorized to be appropriated, and there are appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, to remain available for obligation until September 30, 2011, to be used for debt service on, or direct construction or renovation of, a health care facility that provides research, inpatient tertiary care, or... Health Care Bill - Manager's Amendment http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411848/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:39:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410842/posts GOP threatens to delay health care vote with bill read-a-thonAP Last Updated: 6:36 PM, December 18, 2009 WASHINGTON — Republicans threatened to delay Senate business with a health care read-a-thon this weekend as Democrats searched for 60 votes to advance President Barack Obama's signature issue. A forecast of heavy snow added to the list of complications. **SNIP** Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is expected to release a package of changes to the bill that could run to hundreds of pages. Since those changes were negotiated behind closed doors, McCain said it's reasonable to demand that the package be read aloud... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410842/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:48:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410756/posts Paul Krugman, op ed columnist for The New York Times, wrote today that while Senator Joe Lieberman should be hung in effigy and President Obama should be chastised for caving completely on the public option, the health care bill as it now stands in the Senate should still pass. Unfortunately, none of us know what exactly is in that bill since Senator Harry Reid is playiing hide-and-seek with it. Nevertheless, Krugman lists the usual bunch of supposed benefits of the legislation, forgetting to mention that we will all be facing higher taxes, mandates and charges for four years before anyone... David Horowitz's NewsRealblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410756/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:15:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410163/posts Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation. Late into the night, Democrats emerged from a huddle confident that they would muster the 60 votes needed to thwart the GOP effort at blocking the military spending bill. An antiwar liberal said he would set aside his reservations and support choking off the filibuster to keep the chamber on a timeline of holding a final health-care vote before Christmas. The vote on... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410163/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:50:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407129/posts As a panelist on Fox News Sunday, Liz Cheney, a potential bright future star of the conservative movement, declared that the job Senate republicans have been doing to derail ObamaCare was "masterful." I agree. I realize there are some conservatives out there who are disappointed that our GOP Senators aren't initiating legislative Armageddon to stop this latest Obamination. They don't want the Senate GOP to be the "party of no" they want the GOP to be the party of HELL NO! I have a great deal of sympathy with that point of view and did have the chance to express... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407129/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:25:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406100/posts Foxnews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406100/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:52:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406105/posts We’re suffering from an incoherent institutional set-up in the senate. You can have a system in which a defeated minority still gets a share of governing authority and participates constructively in the victorious majority’s governing agenda, shaping policy around the margins in ways more to their liking. Or you can have a system in which a defeated minority rejects the majority’s governing agenda out of hand, seeks opening for attack, and hopes that failure on the part of the majority will bring them to power. But right now we have both simultaneously. It’s a system in which the minority benefits... Think Progress, via Instapundit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406105/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:04:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391333/posts This Saturday’s Senate vote on National health care for America looks likely to turn into a long, drawn-out bloodbath as all 40 of the Republicans in the chamber have vowed to filibuster the bill. Even moderate Republican Olympia Snowe has said she will participate in the fillibuster against Obamacare. Democrats need to only get 60 votes to proceed to debate, where they only need a majority to pass the bill. This will allow Democrat Senators vulnerable in their re-election 2010 bids a John-Kerry-esque “I voted for the bill before I voted against it” line of politicking, where they can vote... The Right Perspective http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391333/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:27:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2390474/posts We need to peel off one Democrat to kill this thing. For those of you glued to your laptops when the abortion known as PelosiCare was passed a couple of weeks ago, this Saturday's fight in the Senate will consist of 10 hours of debate, which were won by Republicans in return for their not having the entire bill read on the floor. According to Roll Call (subscription required, but the snippet is there), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) will join the other 39 Republicans in the filibuster. The first vote is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., so, if my math is correct,... Patriot Room http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2390474/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:54:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390410/posts Senate Republican aides say that Harry Reid has scheduled the first vote on his health-care bill for Saturday night for 8:00 p.m. after 10 hours of floor debate. Ed Morrissey notes that registered voters oppose the House health care bill 51 percent to 35 percent; a poll done by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows registered voters oppose "President Obama’s health care plan" 52 percent to 40 percent. All eyes are on Democratic senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska to see if he will vote Saturday night on the motion to proceed. Nelson is threatening to filibuster the final bill... weeklystandard.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390410/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:10:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389698/posts Barack Obama is not the only one giving a shout out. On Monday’s edition of MSNBC's The Ed Show Nation magazine editor Katrina vanden Heuvel hailed the godfather of community organizers: The great community organizer Saul Alinsky talked about organized people vs. organized money. We are seeing the mugging of the common good everyday. How can the Left continue to claim anyone- seeking to understand its motives or modus by reading Alinsky’s writings is paranoid?The show also represented the continuation of Katrina's self-contradiction tour on the issue of the filibuster. Now that Republicans are filibustering socialism, she is in... NewsRealBlog.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389698/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:06:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377572/posts Last week in a dramatic announcement, Senator Joe Lieberman announced that he will vote along with the Republican Party to filibuster the Obamacare bill in the senate. It was a big blow to the Democratic efforts to take over our healthcare, so big that Senator Tom Harken threatened to throw Lieberman out of the Democratic Caucus. Yesterday Senator Reid's office reported that the Majority Leader and the Connecticut Senator reached a secret deal where the Senator will not vote for a filibuster but will continue to vote against the bill in the final roll call: But sources said Reid’s staff... Fox News / The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377572/posts#comment Tue, 3 Nov 2009 18:33:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375368/posts Is there a more hypocritical figure in American politics than Joe Lieberman? The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any health care reform bill that has a public option - even the version with the "trigger" compromise accepted by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe - because it might cost money. "I think that a lot of people may think that the public option is free," said Lieberman, one of the Senate's big spenders, in a suddenly frugal mood. "It's not. It's going to cost the taxpayers and people that have health insurance now, and if it... Creators Syndicate via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375368/posts#comment Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:49:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374668/posts Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee will boycott the markup of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill if Chairwoman Barbara Boxer tries to take it up next week. The seven Republican members on the committee met on the Senate floor last night and unanimously agreed to a boycott, according to Republican aides. Boxer told POLITICO on Thursday that she plans to mark up the bill on Tuesday, scheduling that requires noticing the hearing on Friday. As of noon, no notice had been issued. Democrats have a 12-7 majority on the committee, so Boxer doesn’t need any Republican votes to... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374668/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:58:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2374622/posts Senator Tom Harkin did everything but place a horse's head in Joe Lieberman's bed as he discussed the Connecticut Senator's Decision to join a filibuster of any Obamacare bill which contains the public option. He implied that if Lieberman , and independent, voted for the filibuster he would lose his committee chairmanship and would no longer be allowed to caucus with the Democratic Party: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, told reporters that Lieberman (I-Conn.) ought to consider the benefits of his membership in the Democratic caucus before he decides how to vote on healthcare reform.... The Hill/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2374622/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:07:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2374187/posts Here is video of a CNN Report which talks about the history of "filibusters" in the U.S. Senate. Strom Thurmond holds the record for talking more than 24 hours himself in a filibuster to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957. A filibuster to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1964 lasted for 57 days, which is the longest ever. . . (VIDEO) Freedom's Lighthouse http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2374187/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:15:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372286/posts Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a development, first reported by TPMDC, that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will filibuster a health care bill if it includes a public option. "Joe Lieberman is the least of Harry Reid's problems," Reid told reporters at his weekly press conference. During a Q&A session with reporters, Reid offered a fairly spirited defense of Lieberman, signaling perhaps that he doesn't believe Lieberman will ultimately be an obstacle--or at least that he doesn't want to tip his hat: "I don't have anyone that I've worked harder with, have more respect for, in the Senate than Joe... TPMDC.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372286/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:38:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2325175/posts Romney for Senate? Succeeding Kennedy Could Help in 2012 By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blogThough it may be hard to see at first, the passing of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts may have a profound impact on 2012's race for the GOP presidential nomination.Back when Sen. John F. Kerry was his party's presidential nominee, the Massachusetts Legislature—which is overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats—changed the law to require that a special election be held after a vacancy occurs in one of its U.S. Senate seats rather than allow Republican Gov. Mitt Romney to make an appointment if Kerry had won.The... US News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2325175/posts#comment Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:27:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321783/posts ERIC BOLLING, GUEST HOST: The health care debate is raging across the country, facing massive GOP opposition. Now, you hear people talk a lot about reconciliation and the nuclear option when it comes to getting a bill passed. But beware of politicians speaking jargon, some of the words become more confusing. What does it really mean? Joining me now is our guest, Ann Coulter, syndicated columnist and author of the best-selling book, "Guilty." Ann, thanks for coming on the program. You know, we've been watching this thing and it goes from — I don't know — a single-payer system to... Fox News - Beck http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321783/posts#comment Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:28:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321781/posts GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: All right, is the plan to go nuclear? Are the Senate Democrats fed up and fired up, and are they going to invoke the nuclear option and push through health care reform? Democrats might use the nuclear option, which is slang for a parliamentary procedure called "reconciliation" to get health care reform passed. Fox News - Greta http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321781/posts#comment Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:26:41 GMT